At Phayul, whose name means fatherland in Tibetan, the food is lively and rugged, true to what you might find in the alpine villages of Kham and on the austere steppe of Amdo, regions that straddle eastern Tibet and western Sichuan. Those expecting mildness and calm may be shocked when a slow paralysis takes hold of the tongue. The cause is emma, better known as Sichuan peppercorn, a spice...